


Anacampserote

by recrudescence



Category: Glee
Genre: Community: fandom_stocking, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-09
Updated: 2011-01-09
Packaged: 2017-10-14 15:05:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/150551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/recrudescence/pseuds/recrudescence
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Burt isn't used to this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anacampserote

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Browneyedmami](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Browneyedmami/gifts).



Burt isn't used to this. Being with Carole is constantly throwing him for a loop, but in the best way possible.

Carole's amazing. She doesn't pull any punches and she knows the ins and outs of dealing with being a single parent. Burt's never really talked to anyone about what it's like raising a kid while you're still missing someone so much it feels like it hurts to be alive sometimes. Carole gets that words aren't his strong point, but she's always there to listen when he feels a need to fumble with them. Burt's still getting accustomed to that.

He's just always had Kurt around.

Finn's a good kid. He's learned his lesson after their one big blowup and things have settled back down between the two of them, which is much, much better than having a belligerent stepson under his roof. Finn can also appreciate sports without getting bogged down by whether or not their uniforms are on trend and he doesn't flip out if he catches Burt sneaking the occasional Kit Kat. But sometimes they'll see a commercial for tie-dyed Snuggies or something and look pointedly at each other because they're both imagining Kurt's derision.

 _Not_ having a kid in the house would probably be too strange for him to handle.

Which is why he pretends to be engrossed in his channel-surfing when Carole remarks, “They'll both be in college before we know it. Scary, right?”

Mentally, Burt blames Finn for setting this off, since he's busy cramming for a test over at the dining room table and looking the most studious Burt can ever remember seeing him.

“I always used to wonder what would happen then,” continues Carole, circling the pads of her fingers against Burt's nape in a way that always makes him feel dazed and powerless. But again, in the best way possible. “Empty-nest syndrome, you know? Without Finn around, I thought I'd end up taking up knitting or rocking-chair collecting or something. Maybe start selling preserves at the farmers' market. Like a real old maid.”

This is another one of those things Burt never thought about it at all, if he could help it. “Yeah, but you're my old maid now.”

She smiles and swats at him, he kisses her, she kisses back, and Finn whines _Mom_ in a manner more suited to a kindergartener, then sighs and starts haphazardly collecting his things. “If I fail my geology midterm, it's your fault.”

Burt snorts. “I thought you were studying geography.”

Finn seems to consider this for a few seconds. “Right. Whatever.” And then he's wandering off, books piled in his arms and a long-suffering look on his face.

With Finn gone, Burt figures he's in the clear and goes in for a kiss. “Just something I've been wondering, but what's the male version of an old maid?” He can feel Carole's smile against his lips.

“ _You_ ,” she retorts, and then she faux-elbows him in the stomach and Burt laughs in a way he didn't think he would ever laugh again.

Moments like this make him forget how much his life has changed now that Kurt's away. It's a different environment for sure, but they're all learning to live in it. The little things are the truly significant ones, like Carole chiding him about his eating habits— _what would Kurt think?_ —or Finn actually _buying_ a Snuggie to see what the hype is about and then letting him borrow it. Or the way he and Carole gradually open up to each other about the lives they had before they lost their spouses. Or how happy Kurt seems whenever he calls and emails from his new school.

It's not always an easy process, but it's an okay one and no one's being left behind. Burt wouldn't trade it.


End file.
